stories

Helpline call from a parent suffering abuse from her son.

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F called the Helpline wanting advice and guidance around safeguarding herself against further physical and emotional abuse from her grown up son. She reported several years of abuse and her failed attempts to encourage her son to access support for his mental health. At the time of the call F was reluctant to involve the police for fear of the situation escalating. 

 

During the initial conversation a DASH risk assessment (DASH is an official way of assessing risk - the acronym stands for: domestic abuse, stalking and 'honour'-based violence), was completed and it confirmed that the case was medium risk. Safety planning was completed over the phone and at the end of the call F decided that the safest option for herself and her son was for her and her other child to move out of the family home over the weekend, having told her son that he was to remove himself and his belongings whilst she was away. She stated that she would involve the police if her son did not follow her wishes. F told ACT that her son had his own property that he could return to at any time. 

 

ACT ensured that F and her other child had somewhere to stay over the weekend and arranged to make contact on the following Monday morning. During this conversation F confirmed that her son carried out her wishes and is now back living in his own property. She said that she was very grateful for ACT’s support, especially being able to comfortably offload her worries and concerns to someone not connected to the family. F said that she is contemplating another attempt to engage her son with counselling and confirmed that she would contact the Helpline again if she felt she needed further advice and guidance.